Pune man loses Rs 1 crore to scammers while opening pizza chain during cricket world cup

By Divya BhatiIn a recent case of cyber fraud, a 35-year-old man from Pune was swindled out of Rs 1 crore by online fraudsters who promised him the franchise of a multinational pizza restaurant chain during the upcoming 50-over men’s cricket World Cup. The victim was tricked into depositing the money in multiple bank accounts to open franchise outlets of the pizza restaurant chain in Mumbai and Pune during the World Cup, as well as one at the Pune International Airport.

The victim, who is a director of an engineering components manufacturing company, was interested in investing in the food and hospitality industry. He was looking for avenues on how to enter the makerket when he came across some websites that offered franchises of a popular pizza chain, as reported by India Express. To get the franchise, the victim filled out an online form in the first week of June.

Following the application, on June 9, the victim reportedly received a call from a man who introduced himself as an executive of the franchise company. Thinking it to be a genuine call, the victim proceeded with the process of obtaining a franchise. On June 21, he received a letter of intent, a document listing the terms and conditions of the contract.

To complete the process, the victim was asked to make payments. Initially, he transferred Rs 2.65 lakh to a bank account as an initial processing fee. Subsequently, he was asked to pay around Rs 6 lakh as charges for a no-objection certificate (NOC) and Rs 7.5 lakh as the initial payment for purchasing machinery for the outlet. The victim reportedly made these payments in four instalments and was informed that he would receive his outlet at the Pune Airport.

In the following days, the complainant was approached by cyber fraudsters posing as other executives of the franchisor. They requested him to make additional transfers of Rs 2.6 lakh and two payments of around Rs 12 lakh each to complete contract formalities. Furthermore, they even asked for Rs 20 lakh for the interior decoration of the franchise outlet at the Pune International Airport.

Later, the victim received even more calls from individuals posing as senior executives. They presented him with a proposal to open franchises in Pune and Mumbai during the upcoming cricket World Cup, with franchise fees totaling Rs 82 lakh. The callers requested payments of Rs 15 lakh and Rs 33 lakh for these franchises. The victim accepted the offer and proceeded with the payments, resulting in the total amount of payments exceeding Rs 1 crore in less than a month.

However, while making these payments, the victim suddenly realised that he had been making payments to personal accounts of individuals instead of any registered entity. After cross-checking and conducting further investigation, the victim realised he had been deceived and subsequently filed a complaint with the Pimpri-Chinchwad police. A First Information Report (FIR) was registered at the Bhosari MIDC police station under the jurisdiction of the Pimpri-Chinchwad police.

The police official further reveals that between June 9 and July 7, the complainant was tricked into making numerous transactions to multiple bank accounts under various pretexts related to opening franchise outlets of the pizza restaurant chain in Mumbai, Pune, and even at the Pune International Airport.

Notably, this is not the first case of an online scam involving getting a franchise of a famous fast food outlet. The investigating officials have revealed several similar incidents of cyber fraud that were reported across the country recently, where the name of the same pizza restaurant chain was used to deceive unsuspecting individuals under the false promise of offering franchise opportunities. People are being advised not to fall for any offers online and to thoroughly research and verify before investing in such opportunities.